There has never been any record of a white buffalo calf born in Yellowstone National Park — until now.
The rare white American buffalo calf was spotted for the first time earlier this month, and to some Indigenous tribes, the birth signaled both a blessing and a warning to the world.
“I never thought this would happen in our generation,” Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate, said in an interview that aired on TODAY June 27.
Looking Horse said the birth is seen as the second coming of the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who first appeared thousands of years ago when buffalo were scarce and people were hungry, NBC News reported. She taught members of the Lakota to pray and honor the Earth, and promised to return one day as a white bison calf with black eyes, nose and hooves.
Indigenous groups burned sage, sang songs and danced in a ceremony honoring the calf's birth on June 26 in the national park, according to NBC News, where the calf's name was revealed: Wakan Gli, or Return Sacred.
"It’s a warning for us to do something," Looking Horse said on TODAY.
Looking Horse had hoped the White Buffalo Calf Woman would not return in his lifetime, as it would be a sign that the world needs healing, according to NBC News. When a white calf was born in Wisconsin in 1994, he said he remembered feeling awe and dread as scientists began speaking out about climate change.
"It just brings tears into my eyes every time I think about it because this shouldn’t happen in our time and it did," Looking Horse told TODAY.
Looking Horse also shared the lesson to take away from the birth: "Mother Earth is sick and has a fever. And at this time, this is a spiritual awakening."
The calf was first photographed on June 4, according to NBC News, when tour guide Jordan Creech was leading visitors through the park and stumbled upon the herd with a new arrival.
After snapping the photo, Creech showed the picture to his boss, who told him it was a white buffalo.
"That’s not like an unusually white bison calf," Creech recalled his boss telling him while on TODAY. "That is a white bison."
"It seemed unreal that I just was so lucky to be one of maybe a dozen people that got photographs of this thing, and I don’t think it’s been seen since," Creech added.
The calf is likely roaming around Yellowstone National Park, though it has not been seen since the beginning of June — and may never be seen again as it travels the region.
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